We know, we know. Any story that begins with 'Piers Morgan says' is usually not worth reading, but the TV host and professional controversialist's latest opinion piece has been picking up quite a bit of traction, mostly because it involves Kanye West.
Morgan was writing about the recent story that saw members of a sorority at a university in New Hampshire under investigation, following footage of them singing along to Kanye West's 'Gold Digger' going online.
For those who aren't familiar with the song, it contains the line 'But she ain't messin' with no broke n****a'. Some people maintained that they had done nothing wrong by singing along to the song, while others contended that it was offensive for white people to use that word in any context.
Unsurprisingly, Morgan is in the former camp and says that West himself should be blamed for perpetuating use of the word.
"I doubt any of them gave it a moment’s thought when Kanye’s song ‘Gold Digger’ began playing, and certainly not any racist thought," he wrote on the Mail Online. "They’re young, free and partying and it would have just seemed like any other very popular rap song. So they sang along to it, and that meant they subconsciously sang the word ‘n***as’ too.”
He added: "So what? They didn’t write the song, Kanye West did. They didn’t make millions of dollars from that song, Kanye West did. He used the word ‘n***as’ in his lyrics because that is what almost every rapper in America now does. It’s become a standard, almost compulsory word to include in any ‘cool’ rap record.”
“Rap music isn’t sold or marketed exclusively to white people. Superstars like Kanye West target and exploit white audiences for their music just as enthusiastically as they target and exploit black audiences. So how can they, or anybody else for that matter, complain if a white person sings the very words they have written in No1 hit song?”
Unsuprisingly, West has not addressed the controversy personally.
